A Normal Life
by draconia21
Summary: When Harry finally thinks he’s beginning to have a normal life, Harry realizes that one event can change your life and make it even better.Little does he know that one event happens to be getting braces. HPDM, BZHG
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or related characters.

This is my first fanfic story so please be gentle.

**Title: **A Normal Life

**Author: **Draconia21

**Rating:** M for some graphic context and words

**Summary:** When Harry finally thinks he's beginning to have a normal life, Harry realizes that one event can change your life and make it even better.Little does he know that one event happens to be getting braces. HPDM, BZHG

No HBP spoilers

"blah" – talking

'blah' – thoughts

Chapter 1 

"Harry, c'mon it's time to get up! You have an appointment today!" Remus called from the kitchen of Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

Harry groaned, while he turned in bed to stare up at the ceiling of his second floor bedroom and smiled. Today was his second week at his new home in Grimmauld Place. It no longer held that atmosphere of dark magic, but now resembled a warm and loving home. A home that Remus Lupin and himself created after the defeat of Voldemort.

The war was finally over in some aspects except for a few remaining Death Eaters that managed to escape after the final battle, but in all things where finally starting to look up for Harry or so he thought.

It was as Harry walked into his adjoining bathroom that he remembered he had a dentist appointment this morning. Oh how he hated having to go to the dentist. Living with the Dursleys, not much attention was paid to his health needs. They wouldn't even buy him new clothes let alone take him to the dentist for a proper checkup.

Half an hour later Harry was dressed and bounding down the stairs to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Hey kiddo! Are you hungry this morning?" Remus said upon Harry entering the kitchen. Harry smiled hearing the affectionate term of endearment from his surrogate godfather. It finally felt as if he had a family. Just him and Remus was enough for Harry.

"Hey Remus! I'm hungry, but not that much so I guess some oatmeal should be enough," Harry said, sitting down at the table. It was then that Harry finally got a good look at the table. On the table, Remus had made French toast pancakes, sausages, bacon, kippers, toast and eggs. "Whoa Remus just how many people are having breakfast here this morning."

"Just you and me Harry. Don't you remember you have an dentist appointment this morning?" Remus explained, bringing a pitcher of pumpkin juice to the table and sitting down across from Harry.

"Yeah? But what does that have to do with why you made so much breakfast?" Harry asked, reaching across the table for a slice of toast and the strawberry marmalade and spreading some on his toast.

"Well, I kind of didn't tell you the whole truth this morning. You see, the appointment is not for a regular checkup and cleaning," Remus said wearily, hoping that the rest of the conversation goes smoothly.

"Well, if I'm not getting a checkup and cleaning, then what kind of appointment did you make for me?" Harry asked, taking a bite of toast with some marmalade on it.

"I made you an orthodontist appointment because…" Remus started, but he never got to finish because Harry interrupted him.

"YOU WHAT? WHY WOULD YOU MAKE AN ORTHODONTIST APPOINTMENT FOR ME? I DON'T NEED BRACES!!!" Harry exclaimed.

"I've noticed for quite some time that your teeth seem to be a little on the crooked side and you may have an overbite," Remus replied, totally disregarding Harry's outburst.

"But I don't wanna get braces. People will laugh at me. Besides, why can't I just have them magically straightened," Harry whined.

"No one is going to laugh at you Harry. And besides you may not even have to wear them that long," Remus placated Harry as he came around the table to sit next to Harry and resting a hand on his shoulder. "And I know that your mum and dad would have wanted you to experience some things the muggle way. Your mum was a muggle-born and she never wanted to forget where she came from and that meant not always have things magically fixed when the need suits it.

"So can you just do me a favor and try to eat as much food as you can this morning in case you may not be able to eat for the rest of the day?" Remus finished.

"Okay, but that doesn't mean I have to like it," Harry pouted as he began to place some of everything onto his plate.

"Thanks kiddo," Remus said as he got up and placed a kiss on the top of Harry's head before going back and sitting across from Harry to begin his own breakfast. Harry gave Remus a shy smile at the physical display of affection.

Digging into his food, Harry asked, "So the reason you think I need to eat all this food is because…?"

"The dentist may be doing some preliminary work on your teeth so you might be a little too sore to eat anything else for the rest of the day."

Harry nodded and continued with his breakfast. Though Harry really did not want to go to this appointment, he knew that Remus was only looking out for his best interests. And that was reason enough for Harry to do as his guardian asks.

After he was finished, Harry asked to be excused. He had a lot to think about. "Sure, but your appointment is for 11 o'clock so be downstairs and ready to go by 10:30 so we can drive over there," Remus said before Harry left to go back to his room.

Harry walked slowly up the stairs, his mind swirling with thoughts and questions. 'I can't believe I have to get braces. What is everyone at school going to think? What are Ron and Hermione going to say? Will they still be my friends?'

Harry flopped on the bed and engaged in one of his newest favorite pastimes, staring at the ceiling of his room. As he stared at the ceiling, a thought occurred to him. Harry sat up quickly and groaned for the second time that day.

'What is Draco going to think?' That thought alone made Harry want to crawl into a hole and never come out. You see Harry had a crush on Malfoy since the beginning of sixth year, and it was then that Harry started to see Malfoy as Draco. However, he was Draco in his head only because Ron would never understand how he felt about Draco. It also helped immeasurably that Draco and himself came to a truce in sixth year. Now there was no way in hell that Draco would want to date him.

Harry signed and put his head in his hands and put them on his knees. 'This is going to be a long year'.


	2. Chapter 2

**Please note the change in pairing in this story. It will no longer be RWHG but BZHG**

"Blah" Speech

_Blah_ Thoughts

Chapter 2 

At 10:30, there was a knock on Harry's bedroom door. "Yeah?" Harry asked, still in his self imposed depressive state.

"You ready to go kiddo? It's 10:30," Remus said, walking into the room and seeing Harry sitting at the window looking out over the gardens of Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Harry mumbled, getting up and following Remus out the room and down the stairs. "So where exactly is this dentist office at?"

"The office is in downtown London and it should take us about fifteen minutes to get there, but the Dr. Adams' receptionist recommended being there fifteen minutes before your appointment to fill out the paper work," replied Remus, as he and Harry got into the car and drove off.

Harry nodded and continued to stare out the window wondering how his life is going to change. 'Well Ron and Hermione should still be my friends. After all, Hermione's a muggleborn and her parents are dentists, so she shouldn't think any less of me. And anything that Ron doesn't understand, Mione will explain to him, but Draco."

About fifteen minutes later they were walking into the lobby of the dentist office. There were a couple of other people already there in the waiting room as Remus approached the receptionist. "Good morning. Harry here has an orthodontist appointment with Dr. Adams for 11 o'clock," Remus spoke to the receptionist, while placing his arm around Harry's shoulder.

"Ah, yes Mr. Harry Potter. The wizarding world is greatly appreciative of all that you have done for us," the woman behind the counter smiled and thanked Harry.

"Uh… yeah, your welcome, I guess, but isn't this a muggle dentist office?" a perplexed Harry asked.

"Well yes and no," the receptionists stated. "Doctor Adams caters to both muggle and wizarding patients, but we don't often get wizard orthodontist appointments because they take the option of having their teeth magically straightened instead."

At that comment, Harry glared at Remus and just shook his head. "Well I guess we should just get this over with," an almost depressed Harry said. He proceeded to go and take a seat in the waiting room, while Remus gathered the necessary paperwork and joined Harry to begin filling out all the forms.

Nearly twenty minutes later, the receptionist called Harry's name and escorted him and Remus to a room where the receptionist instructed Harry to get in the chair. "The doctor will be with you in a few minutes," she smiled before leaving the room.

Harry began to look around the room taking note of all the happily smiling poster children with braces. _Yeah right!_ Harry thought as he continued to sulk.

Just then the door opened and a man who appeared to be in his thirties with dirty-blonde hair, brown eyes and a kind smile greeted the occupants if the room. "Well, hello there Mr. Potter. I am Dr. Adams," he said shaking Harry's hand. "And who is this gentleman you are with?"

"That is Remus Lupin, my godfather and you can call me Harry."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Remus said crossing the room to shake the doctor's hand.

"Likewise, so you're here for an orthodontic examination so lets take a look. Just lie back and then I'll bring the seat back." Harry did as instructed. After about five minutes of assessing Harry's mouth the doctor was finished. "Okay Harry you can sit up now.

"From what I can tell, you will indeed need braces, but for how long I am not sure until I can get some x-rays of your mouth. So I am going to have my assistant come in and take you to have your x-rays done." At this, Harry nodded.

After about twenty minutes, Remus and Harry were sitting in the doctor's office discussing Harry's treatment option. "Well gentleman, after looking through the x-rays, we're looking at about 2 maybe 2 ½ years in which Harry will have to where the braces. I have an idea about how I am going to treat you so I am going to go ahead and put the spacers in before you leave.

" Now as for the plan of action, we'll put the braces on next week, but in addition to wearing braces, you will also have to wear a facebow." At the questioning look on Harry face, the doctor went on to further explain how the facebow is essentially headgear. The wire of the headgear will attach to the back bracket that will fit on Harry's molar, in addition to the strap that will fit around his lower neck, also known as a cervical pull headgear. The purpose of the Headgear is to speed up the growth of your bottom jaw because it has not been growing at the same rate as your upper jaw. So any questions?"

For Harry, the only one that came to mind was how long he would have to wear the headgear. And Dr. Adams simply replied everyday for 12 hours until he says to stop. It was at that moment that Harry knew any chances he had at getting Draco Malfoy to like him was now completely non-existent.

HPDM HPDM HPDM HPDM HPDM HPDM HPDM HPDM HPDM HPDM HPDM

An hour later saw Harry and Remus in the car bound for home after having a mold of his mouth taken and the spacers put in. As Harry stared listlessly out the window. Remus turned to look at him. "You okay Harry? Your mouth is not hurting you already?"

"No, I'm just worried about how everyone's going to react to my braces."

"I'm sure everything is going to be okay. It should not matter how you look. If your friends are truly your friends, then they will always remain that," Remus said sincerely.

Harry knew that Remus was absolutely right, but that still did not make him feel any better about Draco. He continued to stare at the passing buildings until they were pulling up in front of his new home. Harry went immediately upstairs to his room to sulk some more only to find a beautiful black eagle owl perched on the back of his chair with a letter clutched in his beak. _I wonder whose owl that is? Only one way to find out._ Harry crossed the room and took the letter from his beak and then proceeded to feed him an owl treat.

Harry sat on his bed and opened the envelope containing the letter and proceeded to read:

_Hi Harry,_

_How is your summer going? Mine is going great. I hope you don't mind me calling you Harry. I know we agreed on a truce last year, but I really want us to become friends. _

_You're probably wondering why I am writing? Well, I was wondering if you would like to come over to my manor and spend the rest of the summer with me so that we can get to know each other. I know that your birthday is in a week, so how about you come over to stay the day after that way you can spend your birthday with your friends and godfather if you wish. Please write back your reply with Castor, my owl._

_Hope to hear from you soon._

_Your friend _

_Draco Malfoy_

Harry could not believe it. Draco wanted him to come spend the rest of the summer with him. Harry leapt up from his bed and raced down stairs to ask Remus if it was all right. Remus readily agreed saying it was all right for him to go except that he change the date to August 2nd instead of the 1st, as he was having his braces put on that day.

Later that evening, the green-eyed teenager sat at his desk to write his reply to Draco:

_Hi Draco,_

_My summer is going great. I'm glad to hear yours is going well. Remus said it was all right that I spend the rest of the summer with you. However, I cannot come until August 2__nd __since I have an appointment that day. I hope that's all right? I really want us to be friends, too._

_Your friend,_

Harry 

It wasn't until the next day that Harry received a reply saying that the 2nd was fine. It was at that point when Harry finally began to grasp the significance of the situation.

Draco Malfoy was going to seem him with his braces. _Merlin, I hope he still wants to be my friend._


End file.
